Our kids want to create a life they want to live…in the classroom. To create a life you want to live IN and OUT of the classroom starts with identifying what you want. Since our focus is the classroom experience we will identify what our goal is in each subject, math, social studies, english, science.
To accurately set a goal you have to know who you are as a learner. For example, if english class is your least favorite subject and historically you have been a borderline D to C student then setting a goal of A may be unrealistic. Why? Because you may hate the subject, find it useless, no relevance, difficulty beyond reach. Encourage and guide your child to establish what kind of learner they are, currently. Students have to appreciate WHO they naturally are as learners. What subjects do they migrate to and repel? Are there different types of students in school? There are! Look at the Valedictorian Project.
The Valedictorian Project is a 14 year study following 81 high school valedictorian’s who graduated in 1981. What did the Project learn! How can this study help you appreciate the kind of student you are, right now?
To be TOP of your class you have to get good grades…at EVERYTHING! Those high academic achievers worked hard and believed that was the foundation to their school success. They fit in the school environment extremely well. Schools recognize hard work from students who can do well in all the subjects. The authors of the study called this a Supreme Generalist.
Then, there is the opposite end of the learner spectrum. They are the students who want to follow their own intellectual interests. The authors called this group, Intellectuals. They are not interested in doing well in EVERYTHING. For this group, it is “extremely unlikely to work hard at school subjects and tasks they found intrinsically un-engaging.” High grades in areas of interest with lower grades in subjects of less interest. Despite an imperfect academic record, they too are high academic achievers.
It is too easy for “Intellectuals” to look at “Generalists” as the benchmark for success in school. It isn’t fair to think like that. It isn’t fair to either group. We are who we are. So much of who we are as students is grounded in each of us at the earliest part of our development. The Generalist happened to be good at everything without a strong interest in just one particular subject. The Intellectual has individual interests and abilities in certain areas which remain the focus of their effort. One group works hard at everything. The other group works hard at what is interesting to them.
If you are a Generalist or an Intellectual then step back and give a triumphant shout to you for being you! Isn’t it great to be YOU and celebrate who you are? After your celebration, recognize who you are. If you consistently perform well in a specific subject then a goal of grade improvement is more feasible than a subject you usually struggle to like and perform well in. Your improved awareness now allows a more realistic approach to establishing what grade you will strive for in each subject. For example, if you struggle with math then your first goal has to be reachable. Jumping from a C to an A may be unrealistic and completely destroy progress when small steps are unsuccessful and go unrewarded. Once an improved performance has been experienced then creating another goal, maybe a higher grade, is the next step.
With Parent help kids typically decide to improve…it is natural to seek improvement when rewarded. Now that you have established what type of student you are and set goals for a couple or all classes HOW can we make this happen?